Exodus Part II
I think I’m going to
call this passage “Joshua’s Exodus.”
It’s not difficult to see this as a bookend to the wilderness
story. The Hebrew people entered the
wilderness of the Sinai by going through the Red Sea on dry land. Now they leave the wilderness and enter the
Promised Land by going through the Jordan on dry land.
We could also call this
story a “Foretelling of Christ.” Joshua –
who is often called a prefiguring of Christ, especially by the author of
Hebrews – enters the Jordan and with God brings the Hebrew people into the
Promised Land. Christ entered the Jordan
and with God’s blessing opens the door to a new spirituality to all who will
listen and follow Him. Of course, don’t
forget about all the Christ/Joshua comparisons we looked at in the first
chapter of Joshua.
Crossing the Jordan
If we actually look
at the spiritual aspects of crossing the Jordan, realize first and foremost
that the plan originated with God.
Joshua didn’t conceive the plan. Joshua
didn’t come to God with his idea and ask God for permission. God came to Joshua and said, “This is how
it’s going to go down, so listen up.” It
was God’s plan in its entirety. So it is
with the spirituality of the Christian, too.
We don’t come to God and say to Him, “This is why and how you should
save me.” No, God did the work, it was
His plan. What is expected of us is
simply to follow. Just as the Hebrew
people followed God to and through the Jordan, so we follow Christ to the
Jordan and ultimately through the cross.
But it is all God’s plan when it works.
Furthermore, notice
that the plan happened just as God said it would. God told Joshua, Joshua followed, and the
riverbed dried up to allow the people an easy path into the Promised Land. Again, the same thing is true for Christian
spirituality. God told us all along that
He would “provide the lamb.” God told us
all along that He would send His “suffering servant” to suffer on our
behalf. God tells us that by “His wounds
we will be healed.” We are told that “He
will bear the sins of many and make intercession for their
transgressions.” I can go on, but I
think you see the point. God told us
about Christ and it happened just as He said.
God provided Christ, our sins dried up, and we are given the means for
an easy path into the promised land of spirituality.
Now, I’m not saying
it is easy. Daily spirituality is a
difficult but rewarding thing. But you
have to admit, the overall path to spirituality is pretty easy. God has done all the truly hard stuff. God came to earth. Jesus died on the cross. God forgives when forgiveness is not
necessary. God has done all the hard
stuff. All we have to do is walk through
the dry ground that God has provided for us and enter into the promised land of
spirituality that He offers. Yeah, day
to day it may seem hard. But in reality,
God has done the far more difficult part.
May you be spiritual
this day. May God show you the path
through the Jordan clearly on this day.
May you see Christ clearly as you look for Him.
<><
No comments:
Post a Comment